Uber begins its mapping project in Asia, targets S'pore first

After stepping up its mapping of Australia’s and South Africa’s roads earlier this month, taxi aggregator Uber has now announced to deploy mapping cars in Asia, with Singapore being its first target in the region. The San Francisco-based company plans to improve services for both customers and drivers by garnering information like traffic pattern, precise pick-up, and drop-off locations. Furthermore, Uber claims that the street imagery captured by their mapping cameras will help them improve the best routes, without putting the customer’s privacy at stake. The company has assured that none of the footages collected will be posted online or made available to the public. However, for those who really don’t want any bit of their journey captured, Uber has made the provision to request that the images collected be deleted.

“Over the past decade, mapping innovation has disrupted industries and changed daily life in ways I couldn’t have imagined when I started. That progress will only accelerate in the coming years especially with technologies like self-driving cars,” said Manik Gupta, Director of Product, Uber, in a blogpost.

“I’m excited by the prospect of how maps can put the world at our fingertips, improve everyday life, impact billions of people and enable innovations we can’t even imagine today. It’s the kind of smart innovation that will help move Singapore forward,” he added. While the cab service provider currently uses Google’s map services, it is reported that the two companies have had a conflict of interest at several occasions. For example, in 2016, Google began a pilot program equipped Waze, its app which provides real-time driving directions, to help fellow commuters connect to share rides. This was a direct blow to Uber’s pool services. Also, in 2015, Uber acquired some mapping assets from Microsoft’s Bing search engine, and hired two executives from Google Maps. Although Uber currently remains unrivalled by regional competitors like Ola in India and Grab in Southeast Asia, data and applications provided by indigenous players like MapmyIndia and Garmin can easily make the competition strong (if not stronger). Looks like Google is not the only contender Uber needs to watch out for!